My peaceful morning was shattered by noise. I was up early to plan my day and review last night’s emails. And then the trucks started rolling through our neighborhood to pick up garbage, recycling, and compost materials. I was grumbling to myself about how loud they were, and that they were disturbing the beauty of the morning. Then I stopped and thought about how petty my complaint was, and I remembered just how lucky I am.
Read more At most of our events, and probably most of yours, alcohol is served. After nearly 29 years in business, I'm happy to say that I've seen a dramatic reduction in the number of clearly impaired/drunk attendees. Nonetheless, at most every event there is at least one guest who has had too much to drink. As the event host, can and should nonprofits do more? I think so.
Read more While at a recent fundraising event I participated in a new game—at least to me. It took only a short amount of time and the space was right to pull off a perfect landing. The organization sold individuals paper to craft their own airplanes at low price points ($3 for one; $5 for...
Read more This meeting had something unique right up front—the three words, “People We Touch”. I said to myself, “What is this about?” when the Executive Director started the meeting by asking a staff member to read the thank you letter they received as their “People We Touch” moment.
Read more Connie J. M. Johnson recently completed a three-year executive development program focused on business management, ethics, strategic planning and marketing.
Read more “The sound was horrible!” “The people on the left side of the room could not hear.” “The video kept freezing and eventually didn’t work at all!” Have you heard—or said this after an event? Worse yet…was it your event?
Read more Benefit Auction Institute expands fundraising classes to Seattle market
Minnesota-based BAI brings fundraising auction education to the Pacific Northwest
Read more One can learn a lot from a seven-foot fuzzy bear. The Minnesota Twins’ mascot, TC, recently made an appearance at an event hosted by his teammate, Brian Dozier.
Read more Migration donation... yes, it's a thing!
Read more When conducting a Fund-a-Need appeal at your gala, what dollar amount should you ask for first? Do you ask for $1,000 as your first gift; $10,000; $5,000, $500, what?
Read more There are certain dates during the year that are popular for fundraisers. While every region of the country has its nuances, the month of April is the busiest in the Midwest. To be more specific, the last Saturday of April has been our busiest date for at least...
Read more Perhaps you’ve seen the Wall of Wine raffle where the winner receives a vast selection of wines to bring home to your personal wine cellar. But, what if the profile of your event is better suited to beer than wine? How about having a “99 Bottles of Beer raffle”? That’s right, you purchase your raffle ticket for a chance to win from a great selection of unique beers.
Read more Would you like to create social media buzz at your next charity event? Take a page from major sporting event playbooks and invite people to post photos of themselves at your event. They can share the photo via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to show everyone else why they should be at your event next year.
Read more Our daughter needed basic transportation this summer for two months, so we bought her a 15 year-old car...where else but at an auction! “Doris the Taurus” (as the car was dubbed) served her purpose of providing safe, reliable transportation for our daughter while she was home from Spain. However, just two days before we planned to sell the car back to the same auction house, we returned home to find that the car was involved in a hit and run with significant damage to the driver’s side.
Read more An event in an airport hangar? How will that work? What could be awesome? What could go wrong? I recently sat with a client who shared that her next event was going to take place in an airport hangar. This was her nonprofit’s first time working in an airport hangar; it was our company’s fifth time!
Read more Can $20 of wine make you $200 during a live auction? Can a six pack of beer make you $150 or more? How about a stuffed toy? Can it make you an extra $1,500? …The answer each time is yes!
Read more Considering dropping your Silent Auction? Read here first!
Read more First impressions matter! How often did you hear that growing up? “You never get a second chance to make a first impression,” I was always told. Your event is no different.
Read more Imagine the mental message you will send when instead of a property being listed as “No Pets,” that restriction is lifted and shifted to “Pet-Friendly.”
Read more Missing a donor’s attempt to bid during the Live Auction has many bad consequences, from losing money for your cause, to offending a donor who wants to give. That’s why at Live Auctions there are bid spotters in the audience who act as the eyes of the auctioneer.
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